


Complicity

by sanctum_c



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Character Study, Environmentalism, Gen, Introspection, Mako Power, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24933868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Tifa pushed the door of her apartment closed and flipped on the light. The light-bulb bloomed, dulled off-white light illuminating the cramped room; she winced. The switch on the wall connected the circuit, electricity rushing through wires to the bulb. Like a torrent of water, straining through the cabling from within the building, from outside. The cables would merge with others, thicker and thicker until at a certain juncture, they would join one of the trunk cables. These drew electricity down below the plate; at their terminus was one of the six operational reactors within the city.Tifa dwells on the cost of turning on the lights.
Kudos: 5





	Complicity

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'In Bloom'

Long day. Tifa pushed the door of her apartment closed and flipped on the light. The light-bulb bloomed, dulled off-white light illuminating the cramped room; she winced. The switch on the wall connected the circuit, electricity rushing through wires to the bulb. Like a torrent of water, straining through the cabling from within the building, from outside. The cables would merge with others, thicker and thicker until at a certain juncture, they would join one of the trunk cables. These drew electricity down below the plate; at their terminus was one of the six operational reactors within the city.

The cables would enter the reactor and there- The detail was unclear. Shinra were protective of the inner workings of their machines, unwilling to let the public glimpse the innards of their energy monopoly. How similar would the massive Midgar reactors be to the one she had entered? Electric cables terminated in banks of machines, the roar of rotating gears, of equipment under strain. The heat of the reactor’s heart, the point where Mako compression occurred and the Materia component of the bi-products formed. Would there be the open pit of Mako as at Nibelheim? Or more of a lake? A constant churning of glowing heat, and little but a narrow bridge to cross high above the abyss?

And beyond; how different was the next chamber? Did all reactors have rank upon rank of strange cocoons wired into place, their use and placement unclear? Was the unfamiliar word ‘Jenova’ stencilled above the door to the central chamber, or was it absent in these reactors? Was it instead a designation, a unique name for each structure? Were the ceilings low like at Mount Nibel, a maze of pipes and wires pinned in place? Who would ever look up unless they fell back from the door-

She was breathing hard, focus intent on the stained wood of the floor, sweat beading on her brow, heart hammering in her chest. Not thinking about the word; bringing his sword up; heavy, unfamiliar, strangely weighted, still stained with father’s blood. The silver-haired man who caught the blade and pulled it from her grip-

Not thinking about it. Her hand clutching at her chest, gripping the bandages through her shirt; the ones covering the injury he left behind- No.

She clutched at the switch, trembling fingers flicking it off and plunging her into semi-darkness. Light still on in the hallway behind her. Other sources leaked in through the windows; distant neon, other apartments. Possibly the lights illuminating the bulk of the reactors. And sounds; people all around her. Babies crying, the raised voices of an argument, a distant drone of a news report, cars moving outside, the thunder of movements on the Upper plate.

Tifa flicked the light back on.

What cost did pressing the switch truly have? A meter in the kitchen would count a little faster, the device relentlessly counting the moments her fridge and the controls to the water heater drew power. Now she summoned light from darkness at the touch of a button and ensured she would be giving Shinra more money when the bill arrived this month.

Not as if there was any way of avoiding paying them; failure to pay the bill would only increase the amount she owed and the penalties grew from there. She could fend off the company’s thugs looking to recoup but only for so long without collateral damage.

Living in the slums forced a reliance on some light-source. Some certainly relied on open flames, old oil drums with refuse burning inside. Not an option for her when she had a roof over her head and four walls for security.

She could have tried to run her life with batteries; fashionable string lights suspended across the ceiling to cast enough light to see by. But the biggest provider of batteries within Midgar? The Shinra Electric Company. And not as if she could run her fridge or anything else off of some other brand. Candles might work for light, but came with a fire risk so-

The Planet would lose a little more life, suffer some more injury thanks to her actions. Though the obvious solutions did her no good. Keeping the lights off meant blundering around in the dark, straining her eyes, no way to preserve anything or have anything but cold showers. Leaving the city would near inevitably mean going somewhere else with its own Mako reactor. One way or another she would be part of the reason Shinra could exert control, demand payment, and leech the life out of the ground beneath her.

Perhaps Wutai might offer a true alternative option, but overlooked the sheer monstrous complexity of moving somewhere else. To seek work, find somewhere to live on the pittance she currently earned – and thankful her mysterious benefactor had at least taken care of the hospital bills before vanishing out into the world somewhere. Tifa could not leave so easily. She was here, right under her enemy. Shinra cared little for the slums and its inhabitants. If she could somehow rally others or join with some other protest group-

Dreams and fantasies of casting the company down, halting the Mako production and- And after was always the problem part. People lived in the city, relying on Shinra to leech the Planet’s life away to provide them with both the modern culture and the associated amenities they allowed for. Removing Mako power required another method to produce electricity. Difficult subject, but not a reason to delay.

Tifa had not left Midgar after arriving, but often heard of the side-effects of Mako extraction; the growing wasteland surrounding Midgar. One like it around Kalm, one around Junon. Perhaps Nibelheim might have gained one too – if the reactor perched atop the mountain ran on and on for years, the spread of devastation emanating outwards until it claimed the town beneath their feet.

And the fountain, hidden in the caves near the ravine, would diminish; dim; cease; die. No longer a miraculous, wondrous sight; created by sheer chance and environment. Instead, dull, dead rock, brittle and crumbling; the heart and life gone out of it. Maybe it already had; the fire could not easily reach the reactor, and the roar of Shinra’s machines was the last-

Tifa shook her head. There was no way to give up on electricity here within the city. No way to avoid its use in some way or other; illuminating shops, illuminating the streets, keeping those in hospitals alive. It was in use by her neighbours and the few individuals Tifa might deem acquaintances at this point. Not friends. Not yet. Little choice for now but to switch her lights on when she got in each day until Shinra was no more.


End file.
